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Category Archives: Inspired Places

“I see beauty all around, and I’m reminded once again…
Here and now I have all that I need.
Here and now this is where I am meant to be.”
~ Jana Stanfield ~

A sunset walk at Torrey Pines State Beach Reserve this past weekend and Jana Stanfield’s song “Here and Now,” inspired me to create a photo collage for you from my photos. It’s a great way to take an inspiration break at your computer when you make it a desktop background. [Right click on the photo and then click “Set as desktop background.”] Enjoy!

On my way to Maui for a wedding a few weeks ago, I saw the most beautiful photo of waves on the cover of Hana Hou!, the magazine of Hawaiian Airlines. Turns out the photo was by Clark Little, a surfer turned photographer when his wife asked for a photo of waves over their bed. He said, “I can do that! I know waves.” Talk about bold and inspired.

For all the years I’ve walked along the Pacific Ocean at Torrey Pines Beach and been blown away by the wave patterns, I’ve wondered how to catch the light, the beauty, the spray, the moment of cresting, through my camera. Never in any photos I’ve taken have I been able to capture the magic and mystery in those waves that I’ve seen with my eyes.

And it shouldn’t come as a surprise. What Clark Little does to get those photos is beyond my imagination. Having been tossed around by a wave and having a near-death experience as a result when I first moved to San Diego has given me a deep respect for the ocean’s power. The fact that Clark Little is willing to be pummeled and risk his life for that magical moment in the water – well, that to me is the power of the combination of inspiration, passion and testosterone. I’m grateful I can appreciate his talent in a photo and was able to see original prints at the Hawaii Surf Art Gallery in Lahaina, Maui.

If you want to be inspired, go to Clark Little’s website and view the flash movie of his photos, watch the Good Morning America interview with him, and read the article in Hana Hou!, all on his site. His energy and enthusiasm are contagious, and his website is equally inspiring.

After a four year hiatus, today I repeated the VIA (Values in Action) Strengths survey on the newly updatedÂ happier.com. Once again,Â I was remindedÂ of the power of self-discovery and self-awareness, and the immense value ofÂ identifying your personal strengths.

The siteÂ highlights research and assessments by the gifted Dr. Martin Seligman, founder ofÂ the Positive Psychology movement at the University of Pennsylvania and helps you apply that research to your life in very user-friendly ways.

According to the VIA Institute on Character, this survey is the most scientifically validated tool for measuring character strengths. Over 1.3 million people have taken it. There are 24Â qualities thatÂ have been validated as strengths that lead to happiness when applied to your daily life. Alphabetically listed, here they are:

Appreciation of beauty and excellence
Bravery and valor
Capacity to love and be loved
Creativity, ingenuity, and originality
Curiosity and interest in the world
Forgiveness and mercy
Gratitude
Honesty, authenticity, and genuineness
Hope, optimism, and future-mindedness
Humor and playfulness
Judgment, critical thinking, and open-mindedness
Kindness and generosity
Leadership
Love of learning
Modesty and humility
Perseverance, industry and diligence
Perspective (wisdom)
Prudence, caution, and discretion
Religiousness, spirituality, sense of purpose, and faith
Self-regulation and self-control
Social intelligence
Teamwork, citizenship and loyalty
Zest, enthusiasm, and energy

When you take this free profile online, which I highly recommend, you’ll be asked 240 multiple choice questions. Set aside a half hour to answer – it’s worthÂ the timeÂ because what you’ll learn can positively shape everything you do. You’ll be fascinated, I promise.

At the end of the profile, you’re presented with a personalized list and description of your 24 strengths in order of importance to you. While the list wasn’t new information to me since I’d taken it before, it did show that fourÂ of my strengths remained in the top five in a new order and reflected more of how I experience my happiness now, which is a real gift because it reconfirms what has helped me survive some very challenging personal changes in the past four years and is what I can count on and follow when the world around me is in flux (like now!).

Another powerful reminder of this assessment, similar to Marcus Buckinghamâ€™s work and the Gallup StrengthsFinder, is that forÂ a personÂ to feel happy on a regular basis,Â your day (work and personal time)Â needs to include activities whereÂ you can apply and experienceÂ your top five strengths.

Here’s my Happier.com list of top 5 strengths:

1. Appreciation of beauty and excellence
2. Gratitude
3. Curiosity and interest in the world
4. Kindness and generosity
5. Love of learning

Fortunately for me, my work as a speaker and writerÂ committed to helping people stay inspiredÂ through challenge and changeÂ allows me toÂ use theseÂ strengths every day.Â Butâ€¦that doesnâ€™t mean Iâ€™m always aware that I am doing so, or actually using those strengths, and therein lies a major key to feeling happier – a written daily strengths checklist and journal you can review and act from, especially when youâ€™re going through a difficult time.

A few other interesting insights:

The profile lists your strengths in order ofÂ preference and while it’s not stated, you can presume that your 24th strength is also your greatest challenge.

Not surprisingly, I share #24 with most other people who take the profile. (When I went through Seligmanâ€™s six-month â€œAuthentic Happiness Coaching Program,â€ they mentioned this research fact.)

Drum roll, please: my #24 is Self-Regulation and Self-Control. While there many areas of my life where this is not true, where it does fit is with time management. I have a hard time sticking to my own self-defined schedules for getting projects done (which is another reason why I love accountability partners and client timelines).

But here’s the good news in identifying and applying your strengths:Â On the occasions that I do get stuck, if I apply even one of my strengths to getting something done that Iâ€™m avoiding that is important and not urgent (Covey’s Key Success Quadrant), magic can and often will occur.

For example:Â First thing in the morning, I love to walk at Torrey Pines Reserve and Beach, take photos of moments that inspire me (here’s one from today), and then journal, all of which I doÂ almost every early morning before I start my work day. These activitiesÂ energize and nurture me and as I was reminded again today, tap into my strengths.

Once I get to my desk, if it becomes challenging for me to stickÂ to my daily work plan (what plan!?), and I find myself clicking on the Mahjong Titans computer game or stepping away from my desk for a sugar-fat snack attack, itâ€™s a sign Iâ€™m off track. While fun, those actions donâ€™t move me forward in my day or life. The key to my success in that moment (and long term) is to catch myself in that .5 second that researchers say a decision occurs, and do the following: smile, take a deep breath, review my strengths list, and ask myself, â€œHow can I apply at least one of these strengths to this task?â€ In the case of a marketing call, I simply have to remember how grateful I am to get to do the work I do, how much I appreciate my audiences, and how curious I am to learn more about a new client, and voella!, the calls get made and Iâ€™m using my strengths in service to my higher purpose and vision.

And, sometimes, honestly, playing Mahjong Titans and hiking to the store for a king-size Reeseâ€™s Crispy Crunchy Bar still do the trick.

You can take the VIA Happiness Strengths for free at Happier.com. Go take it now. You’ll be glad you did. And if you’d like this type of information presented at your business or organization, or would like a complimentary coaching session on how to apply this in your life, email me at mary (at) marymarcdante.com.

As I finished my meditation early this morning I had this really pleasant wave of gratitude flow through me for the gift of being alive. It’s amazing to me that such a little moment, “a fleeting nanosecond actually” compared to all the “Big Moment” experiences I’ve had out in the world, can bring on such a deep feeling of peace and fulfillment. It’s as if my whole body is smiling.

After this swell swept through me, I had this thought: what if the next adventure after death is even better than this? I felt excited, rather than afraid as I normally feel. Not that I want to die anytime soon to find out what’s next. This life, even with its challenges, is still so full of inspiration, especially when I choose to pause and be present to it, that it brings me to tears. Did you see the full moon the other night! And that sunset! And the clouds at sunrise yesterday morning over the ocean as a storm was rolling in at Torrey Pines Beach!

Shortly after I met her, we went to a concert at Humphrey’s at the Bay here in San Diego to hear the awesome singer/songwriter Keb Mo. After the concert, which was so full of good juju, we were walking out to the car and I asked her a question I like to ask new people I meet:

“What do you do to stay inspired in difficult times?”

She responded without a pause, “I don’t.”

I was stunned. In all the years I’ve asked that question, I’ve never heard that answer. The circuits in my brain literally jammed for a second. When my mind came back, I asked, almost a little indignantly, “What do you mean you don’t?”

She smiled and said, “I just live in what is and that always inspires me.”

Thanks, Krista. Now I remember.

This moment, I live in gratitude for the gift of being alive and I am inspired. What about you?